As 'Fauda' readies fourth season, real-life conflicts hit close to home

New episodes in development will center on Jewish-Arab tensions inside Israel, though creators Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff say they worked on the idea before May’s violence

By Jessica Steinberg

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9 March 2022, 6:13 am

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Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

Up until a few weeks ago, the cast and crew of the show “Fauda” had been ready to fly to Kyiv, Ukraine, to shoot scenes for the upcoming fourth season of the hit Israeli thriller.

That their plans got stymied by a real war seems apt for the show, which offers a gritty fictional portrayal of Israeli counter-terror operations even as the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict still simmers.

Speaking to journalists this week just before taking off for Budapest, where the show will shoot instead of Ukraine, creators Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz noted that the plot of the upcoming fourth season was also connected to real-life events.

The season, set to begin airing in Israel this summer, follows an Arab citizen of Israel who is suspected of having a terrorist history, and whose sister is an Israeli police officer, said Issacharoff. (Issacharoff is an occasional contributor to The Times of Israel.)

“She wants to be a full Israeli,” said Raz, who also plays the lead role of Doron Kabilio in the award-winning drama. “She wants to be part of the Israeli police force.”

The plot — which spirits viewers to Lebanon, Jenin, Israel, and Belgium — was inspired by a true story that happened in Israel many years ago, said Issacharoff.

But it could have also been ripped from more recent headlines, after long-simmering tensions between Israeli Jews and Arabs devolved into spasms of inter-ethnic violence in May, during Israel’s 11-day war with Gaza-based terrorists.

“It was tough to watch the huge hate, how easy it is to get everyone to hate one another,” said Raz.

The creators said writing began before the last year’s violence.

“We didn’t expect the events of last May, an almost war of two peoples,” said Issacharoff.

Those ethnic tensions are a far cry from the set of “Fauda,” where a mixed cast of Israeli Jews and Arabs have worked closely together for the last seven years.

‘Fauda’ actor Yaakov Zada Daniel (left) and ‘Fauda’ creator and star Lior Raz at a March 6, 2022 press conference about the upcoming fourth season of ‘Fauda’ (Courtesy: Rafi Daluya)

“We live in a bubble of creativity and love,” said Raz. “We’re dealing with people, not nations. It’s an amazing place to be in the Middle East.”

Issacharoff said writing the episodes was a challenge, with him and Raz always aiming to keep viewers fascinated and engrossed.

“You need to reinvent the wheel every time,” he said. “It’s fun because of the challenge.”

Viewers have been waiting since 2020 for the newest season. While Israelis will be able to watch the series in Hebrew starting summer 2022, Netflix has yet to announce a date for the US release of the show, which has rocketed Issacharoff and Raz to TV stardom.

The pair recently announced a $50 million partnership with former Disney executives, and their production company Faraway Road is working on several films and TV series. A second Netflix thriller from the two, “Hit & Run,” earned positive reviews last year but was not picked up for a second season.

The two are working on several projects, with storylines about India, poachers in Africa, CIA handlers, and more.

“We became way, way bigger than just ‘Fauda,'” said Issacharoff. “Our job is to create and bring more interesting content from our imaginations and from other parts of the world.”